8 years, 35 selections, $4,294 in donations
Since February 2016, the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland has been selected to benefit from the Hannaford Helps Community Bag and Bloomin’ 4 Good Programs 35 times at 10 different Hannaford locations. In total, the organization has received $4,394 in donations to continue fostering healthy bonds of love and kindness between people and pets.
Tell us about the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland.
The Animal Refuge League is the open-admission animal shelter for the Greater Portland area. We have 15 communities that we work with. We take all of the animals that come in, whether an owner surrenders their pet or animal control brings them in. We don’t turn any pets away.
We don’t turn any pets away.
Our mission is to grow animal welfare, foster connections between people and pets, and rehome the animals that come into us, setting them up for a better future.
What services do you provide to the community?
Adoptions are our most recognizable service. People know they can come here to adopt a shelter pet from us. There is a lot of work that goes into the adoption process. In our on-site clinic, we spay or neuter, microchip, and vaccinate every animal that comes to us.
We have a behavior and training team that works with our animals to figure out what kind of environment they would do well in. Our adoption counselors and technicians work with families to make sure the animal will be the right fit for their lifestyle. Last year, we completed about 3,000 adoptions.
We also run spay and neuter clinics for the public. We have a pet food pantry where people can come and get pet food from us. Through these types of services, we have helped another 1,000 pets in the community. In total, our organization is helping approximately 4,000 animals each year.
In total, our organization is helping approximately 4,000 animals each year.
How has the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland used the donations from the Hannaford Helps Community Bag and Bloomin’ 4 Good Programs to further its mission?
We use this money for our general operating costs, and we have a lot of them! It costs money to do everything. We need these funds to feed our pets, operate our clinic, and provide our foster families with all of the medical services, food, and supplies they need.
New animals come in every single day, and all of them have to go through the same process. It’s great to have support from Hannaford to help cover costs as new animals come into our shelter.
Tell us a story about a program, service, or initiative the Hannaford Helps Community Bag and Bloomin’ 4 Good Programs have supported.
Cole is one of our dogs who’s been with us for a really long time. He came into the shelter in November, so he’s been here 10 months now.
After he worked with our behavior training team to identify what his issues and what his needs were, we were able to quickly place him in a foster home. Cole and his foster family got along really well.
All of our fosters are fantastic. About half of our animals are in foster care right now. Without them, we would have twice as many animals in the shelter! To support our foster families, we cover all medical checkups and provide the supplies to take care of each animal.
To support our foster families, we cover all medical checkups and provide the supplies to take care of each animal.
We just found out that after 10 months, Coles foster family is going to officially adopt him, keeping him in his new home. We rarely get dogs that are with us for that long. There are certainly a lot of large costs that go into a single animal that is with us as long as Cole, but at the end of the day, it’s worth it.
Have you noticed any changes in community awareness or support since becoming involved in the Hannaford Helps Community Bag and Bloomin’ 4 Good Programs?
Marketing is a huge part of what we do here and why we are so successful. It is super valuable to get our name in Hannaford stores. It helps keep our organization at the forefront of people’s minds. We are a huge part of the community, so it’s really helpful that the community can see our name up and remember to support us because of it.
What advice would you give to other nonprofits participating in the Hannaford Helps Community Bag and Bloomin’ 4 Good Programs?
Community awareness is a really big part of being successful. Anything you can do to get out into the community and show people your passion and authenticity is really important. Show people the reason that you get behind your mission and then connect with those people. Getting that awareness and exposure from having your name up at Hannaford is great, and anyone can benefit from it!
Interview with Matt Blanchard, Marketing & Communications Coordinator